Inside the PD: Menchville's comeback one for the ages

Dave Johnson

The first pitch came at 10:11 a.m. By 10:22, Menchville was already trailing 3-0 thanks to a dreadful half inning that included (a) an error, (b) a wild pitch, and (c) a hit batter. Things only got worse — by 10:50, going into the bottom of the second inning, it was 6-0.

“Not the way you want to start a game,” catcher Alex Korecky said.

Yet at 1:11 p.m., exactly three hours after that first pitch, Evan Forrest’s hard-to-handle grounder capped an amazing comeback as Menchville stunned Salem 9-8. Phil Forbes has been the Monarchs’ coach for 22 years, and he doesn’t remember anything like this — certainly not in a postseason game.

“In the first two innings, we spotted them six runs on two errors,” Forbes said. “And then our bats came alive.

“Our pitching piecemealed enough to get some outs. They don’t quit. They’re the cardiac boys.”

It started with a four-run third inning, which included RBI hits by Tanner Woods, Forrest and Deshaun Hewitt and a run-scoring groundout by Hunter Martin. From 6-0 to 6-4.

“That sparked us and made us believe,” Martin said.

It was 7-4 going into the bottom of the sixth. Woods’ RBI groundout made it 7-5, but that left the bases empty with two out. After an error put Korecky at first, Salem pitcher Connor Staskey game unglued. He threw a wild pitch, walked two in a row, and then hit Hewitt with a pitch. It was 7-6.

That brought up Martin, who was already 2-for-4, to face reliever Jamal Windom. He singled through the right side, bringing Forrest home with the tying run.

“Our bats exploded,” Forrest said.

But on the very first pitch of the seventh inning, Salem DH Devonte Bivens broke the tie with a towering home run over the 325 sign in left field. After all that scratching and clawing to get back, Menchville was trailing again.

Instead of falling apart and letting Salem put up another crooked number, Chopp kept his composure and got out of the inning with no further damage. Then came Menchville’s half.

LeRoy Simmonds lined hard to short for the first out, but Josh Moore, Woods and Korecky followed with consecutive singles. Just like that, it was tied again.

Forrest then hit a one-hopper just to the left of shortstop Brent Musante, but it was hit so hard that Musante couldn’t handle it. Woods came around, and Menchville had finally pulled it out.

Afterward, the Monarchs’ players were drenched in sweat — it was 84 degrees when the game ended — and delirious. And, you have to think, a little on the stunned side.

But the thing about postseason is, moments don’t last long. Next up is Nansemond River (18-5), which dominated Granby 10-2 on Monday.

The good news for Forbes is that while he used four pitchers, none of them threw an excessive number of pitches.

“Hey, we’re good,” Forbes said.

NOTE: The weather forecast for Wednesday does not look very favorable. As of 9 a.m. Tuesday, there is a 60 percent chance of rain beginning tonight and lasting through Wednesday.